Priene

House of Virgin Mary - Selcuk Ephesus

The first establishments in Priene go back to 2000 BC. According to ancient documents, these first settlers were the Banians who mixed with the Ionians. In the Archaic period, the city's location may have been nearer to Miletos on the delta of the Buyuk Menderes (Meander). Later the city moved in the direction of the Mykale Mountains' slope.The name "Priene" is thought to have a pre-Greek origin when the Cretan islands, ''Praisos and Prianson" had relations with Priene. Before becoming one of the 12 members of the Ionian Confederation and participating to the "Ionian Rebellion", Priene had first been a Lydian dominion for several centuries.As the city had been demolished, its restoration has been planned by the famous city planner and architect, Hippodamos, who used for the first time the "Grating System": all the constructions were turned to the south in order to benefit from the maximum amount of daylight. The roads were crossing perpendicularly to give the best ventilation system to the city.Approx. 283 BC, a border quarrel arose between Priene and the Greek island Samos. It was only solved one century later when both parties accepted to become Roman vassals. Since then, Priene was under control of the Bergamian King, Attalos II, who was to return the city to the Romans after his death.Due to endless wars and the alluviums that were invading the city, Priene was worn out and abandoned completely in the XIIIth century AD. It is believed that the name of Priene is not Greek but is related to pre - Greek names of Cretan origin, such as Praisos and Priansos. In recent years, the theory gains weight that Priene was one of the cities of the Kingdom of Ahiyava, which is believed to have been founded in the Miletus region, and that its name also derives from that origin. Therefore, our knowledge of the initial foundation of the city, whose existence goes back to the 2nd millennium BC, rests on hypotheses. The fact that the location of the pre - 4th century BC Priene has not yet been able to be determined up to the present day, plays an important role in this.According to the information gathered from ancient sources, Pausanias has written that Priene was founded by Aipythos, son of Neleus of Athens, and by Philotas of Thevai, and that the native population was Carian, whereas Strabo gave the information that the city was founded by Philatos and that it was then called Kadme.

What Our Clients Are Saying -

Absolutely the best tour option for Ephesus if you want to see it properlyChris, Mehmet and Mete, thank-you for the most fantastic day at Ephesus. I research many options online in advance of my holiday bookings to find the best options for us and I wanted the Ephesus experience that would give us the most time at the archeological site seeing the things we wanted to see. We got that with a really engaging driver (Mehmet) and guide (Mete) as well. We were met at the ferry port terminal right on time and Mehmet and Mete were waiting for us as promised. Mete is the best guide - so engaging and knowledgable about his subject matter, and just such a genuine person too - so wonderful to talk to over lunch. We loved seeing the Terrace Houses at the site - don't miss this as it really gives you a perspective on life during the peak time in Ephesus. We did the trip as a day trip from Samos in Greece where we were staying. In the end it was easy but no one can confirm the ferry times from Samos until the end of May (for the summer season), so don't even try organising it before then if you are trying to do it from Samos. If you are intending on doing it from Samos, once the ferry times are confirmed, it was very easy to do. The trip took a bit over one hour from Samos. Both ferries out and back were on time.

The booking process for our Ephesus tour was made very easy by Chris (who is a native English speaker) and all communication was really clear and prompt. We would love to come back and see more of Turkey and we would definitely use No Frills again (and perhaps get to meet Ted the dog next time!). We are generally independent travellers but found that the quality of the guide with No Frills really made the day great for us at Ephesus and added to the quality of the experience. I'm not sure why anyone would use any other company for their Ephesus Tour. They are very professional, friendly, do what they promise, and the guide is top quality.